Dim Sum Funeral Review

[燝凝]

An awkward Seattle-set production about four middle-class, first
generation Chinese siblings and their stilted relationship with the
homeland as embodied by their deceased mother, Dim Sum Funeral owes an
evident debt to author Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's
Wife) and would like to tap into a Wedding Banquet market but, despite
some interesting Asian cast names, it will be hard to drum up interest
in this film.

The main issue with Dim Sum Funeral – apart from its bizarre plot
twist – is an uneven tone. It's never clear here whether director Anna
Chi is playing this straight or for laughs, and the cast looks very
uncomfortable at all the wrong moments. The camera is grimly static
and although set design from James Wilcock is spot-on, the uncinematic
Dim Sum Funeral fails to ever come to life. It could possibly perform
in a specialised arena – Chinese-American ancillary, cable in
particular, where its soapy plot might prove a good fit.

Casting Bai Ling as the scantily-clad lesbian girlfriend of one of the
siblings is a nice touch, but less successful is Talia Shire as a
Jewish nanny-turned-housekeeper who is charged with assembling the
four offspring of the late Chinese matriarch (Lisa Lu) for an
traditional seven-day funeral in the family home. She never seems
convinced either.

Lu's name holds resonance as one of the first Chinese actors to cross
over onto American TV sets, and another name from the past who
followed a similar trajectory is Julia Nickson, who plays oldest
daughter Elizabeth currently living in Hong Kong. As Nickson and
Russell Wong, who plays her surgeon brother Alex, are Eurasian, and
the other family members are Chinese – Francoise Yip as single mother
Victoria, Song as lesbian actor MeiMei – there would seem to be some
paternity issues at play here. Only one, however, is singled out in
the "who's the daddy?" plot strand, and it isn't the character you'd
expect.

All the children have their issues. Alex is unfaithful; Elizabeth has
lost her son and is separated from her husband; Victoria struggles to
cope while Song amusingly wants to conceive a child with her
girlfriend (Ling) and looks to one of the chanting monks at the
funeral for some turkey-basting help.

Production companies
Reel One Entertainment
Dim Sum Productions

Producers
Clark Peterson
Tom Berry
Andrew Reimer
Donald Martin
Ray Cuerdo
Jeffrey Lando

International sales
Imagination Worldwide
(1) 310 888 3494

Screenplay
Donald Martin

Cinematography
Michael Balfry

Production design
James Wilcox

Main cast
Kelly Hu
Bai Ling
Talia Shire
Julia Nickson
Russell Wong
Steph Song
Lisa Lu
Francoise Yip